Over at XDA, forum member tiny17 has come up with an interesting idea for a future Windows Phone UI design: long press on a start tile where upon you "halve the size" of it and then, optionally, once more, till it's 1/4 of the original size.

The idea would certainly create more space and allow you to see more without infinite scrolling. In addition, it keeps to the Metro/Tile UI without any drastic changes to the paradigm. Only issue we see may be with the 1/4 size may be too small on some 3.6" screens. Other than that, it's seems like a pretty ingenious idea and makes you wonder if Microsoft is already thinking of solutions like these for the future. Our opinion? We really like this approach and it looks good too.

Edit: To clear up some confusion, this model doesn't mandate 1/4 size tiles. It allows full size, 1/2 size and 1/4 according to the user's choice. Look closely at the above images and see how all three are represented.

Think you have an idea that doesn't dramatically alter the UI? Anyone starting to have too many tiles? Hit us up on comments.

Reader comments

Fan concept: What if Windows Phone had smaller tiles?

Something I'm missing is the ability to pin stuff to the right part of the screen that is currently only used for the circled right arrow. I'd like the ability to pin apps that really don't have any tile functionality, like IE for example. No need for it to take up 1/8 of my start screen when it just as easily could be docked to the right with a very small icon.Think windows quick launch, only vertical and to the right.

I think I would be good with a 'left swipe' to get to a second custom start screen to put apps that I want to be able to organize, but don't need them on my main screen, but use them often enough not to have go through the 'right swipe' list to get to.

Love the idea of half tiles.My Suggestions:1) Move the right arrow above the title2) Using the extra space from the arrow move - make the titles bigger3) Ensure that 4 whole tiles can be seen when it positions you at the top of the titles4) Add a left arrow and a swipe left for more Titles5) Have the option to pin the top line of titles so that they are on the top of every page as you swipe left.6) App list on the right swipe, have a down a-z list when you click on the letter it shows you the apps for it

My suggestions:1 - If they remove the right arrow at the the top left of the screen, as after some time people will eventually get used to swipe gesature for more options, or it can be mentioned in the user manual.2 - After M$ has done that, they can reduce the tile size so that 3 tiles can fit in a row horizontally, this will shrink the tile size but not too much and still look good.3 - They can allow individual colors for any tile on the home screen, I can't say if it will look ugly that way or not, just like the Windows 8 start screen, Windows 8 start screen looks good though that way.

I really don't get all the drama over a smaller tiles option...I repeat, option. Hasn't anyone scrolled to the app list to the right of the home screen? Hey, look at that, small tiles!! Besides, almost every other function on the UI has much smaller tiles, buttons, icons, or options than the large home screen tiles. I like it and hope MS considers it.

Wow so many comments regarding this since yesterday when I checked. A lot happens while we sleep in Oz. @Daniel Rubino - "Honesty. Design explicitly for the form factor of a hand held device using touch, a high resolution screen and simplified and expedited forms of interaction. In other words, be “authentically digital”."I don't believe the smaller tiles is form factor of a hand held device.Reading most of the above posts it's seems like this design is only fixing the issue of wanting more on the home screen and worrying that the scrolling will become to long. I don't see how this is an issue as I'm sure the majority of us don't move our tiles around too often and you'd think using your phone daily should mean you know roughly where your tiles are. Even if that list hits 50. I have 22 tiles maybe a couple more now and I reckon I could quote my tiles in nearly the correct order without looking at my phone. I'm sure others would have done this but my first few tiles are all phone/msg/contact related. the next lot are "most used" apps eg pics/facebook/calender/ebay/office etc. and then the bottom apps are ones that I pin and un pin depending how often I'm using them at the time, e.g. games/and new apps i've bought that i'm using heavily at the moment but may not use heavily later on. The tiles are nice and big so if I'm at the top of the home screen and I do a fast swipe while scrolling I can still see the app and then tap the screen to stop the scrolling and find the app. Having the smaller tiles would make this harder. And you'd only be able to scroll through your tiles bit by bit to make sure you find it.

Forget long pressing and choosing a size. Simply allow tiles to be "stacked". If you drop a tile on another tile, it stacks to half size. If you drop a tile on two half-sized tiles, it stacks to quarter size - with room for one more tile.This is conceptually similar to folders in iOS.

i love how people are giving negitive feed back because THEY dont like itget your head out of your selfish bleep for a second and relise something50% of the people seem to like it . 50% hate it ... so why would adding this as an option be a bad thing??click hold the tile and have the option to re-size . this would be BRILIANT! and from most experiance 50% of user is more then enought %% for MS to add it. . this way if you dont like it . DONT DO IT . lol . ok go ahead and give me more bad feedback for my Logical non selfish post!.

it's called having an opinion not everyone has to agree with your way of thinking. some of us are developers and understand why microsoft made metro ui tiles the way it is, and others still love the small icon look and feel of iphone, android and other OS. hence a lot of the reason why some may want the tiny tile/icon look. At the end of the say, Microsoft is not going to change to the tiny 1/4 icon/tiles they've branded Metro with the large square and rectangle tiles.

so having an opignion = telling people off and getting mad because of tiles size? lmao!and second , Tile size has NOTHING to do with the metro UI. it still remains a MEtro UI , just alows you to COMPRESS it. Metro is the name for the design language, the design philosophy, behind Windows Phone 7. This is not only in reference to the look and feel of the interface itself, but also to the animations which bring the 2D interface designs to life and the sounds that accompany user interactions on the devices.>if your really a DEv , do your self a fav dont call your self devGOD , you still have alot to learn.

you need to re-read what you wrote original... you're the only one "telling people off and getting mad" ... "get your head out of your selfish bleep for a second and relise something". you might would to slow down and take a deep breath cause OPPS you're again.

I understand your point but I think it would be a bad idea because it ruins the distinct, clean tile interface. Optional 1/4 size tiles would likely allow OEM's to ship devices with 1/4 size tiles as the default, and that would make it less distinguishable, and in a world where the majority of smartphones have a home screen filled with apps, Windows Phone would end up looking like every other phone. It honestly looks like a mess to me and would definitely take more precision to launch an app. I even think it would take me longer to find an app with 1/4 tiles because it's so cluttered. When I look at the mockup, my eyes don't know where to focus in that sea of icons.

I personally think the 1/4 tile makes the "start" screen look like a cluttered mess and I don't think MS should allow it. Everyone seems to have issues with the start screen because of the "wasted space" on the right and the large tiles, but aesthetically I think it looks clean and in order to have information on the tiles they need to be big enough to see it.

Just have an option when you long press on a tile to add it to a "Quick Scroll" list. A button appears under the arrow with a number on it, (or maybe you have the option of choosing a specific button) and when you tap that button, the start page scrolls down or up to where the tile you chose is at the top of the screen.Let us have two or three "Quick Scroll" buttons and have them automatically arrange themselves from closest to top to closest to bottom. Then I can get to the bottom/middle/top/whereverichoose of my Start Screen with one click.

Looks horrible, even on a 4" screen I can see that looking cluttered and over busy and the icons being hard to hit. I have 18 rows of tiles and can scroll easily to the bottom, hit the Windows key to return to the top. No hassle and looks clean and clear.

I think I would like this for more shortcuts than live tiles. Right now I keep a bunch of things on my home page but, I would love to take the things without live tiles (IE, some streaming based apps, etc) and put them in a smaller space so I am not scrolling all over the place.I tend to not put everything on the home page because it will get just as bad as the app list but, this could help

Lot's of opinions on what Metro is. I view this ability as similar to changing the screen resolution on a PC (some like more screen real estate, others never change what came out of the box). Since I got my phone before Thanksgiving last year I have wanted three rows of tiles. I have no problem seeing and really do not need big giant button that are on my screen now. I'd rather have everything on my main screen, no scrolling. I'd also like to see the ability to make the largest tiles (IE, Calendar, and HTC Hub) the same size as the rest of my tiles.

I am frustrated by the many tiles I have accumulated on my home screen. I like the idea of smaller tiles, but you are not focused one feature which made windows so easy to use. Currently, in WP7 games are found in one folder making it very easy to manage my many games. If Mango users had the ability to create personal named folders to manage most used or similar programs the home screen would become much more easy to use.

I think the people who see an issue with the tiles don't actually see where the real issue is. The real issue is some(most) tiles only act as counters and are the ones wasting space. However we have to keep them on the start screen because there isn't a notification center.I said that before on xda, Windows Phone needs to go the Meego route and have a 3rd page that's just for notifications (and maybe one more useful feature like data/wifi toggles).Example: I currently have Accuweather and AlphaJax pinned to my start screen. Accuweather is an informative tile that shows useful information at a glance. AlphaJax doesn't do anything. It just shows a number that tells me it's my turn to play, it's just a counter. AlphaJax could be on my notification page and moved away from my start screen in favour of a more informative app like prime tv.Think about it, how many of your "live" tiles are just counters?Edit: also to those saying this concept could just be made as an option forget it still requires work, resources and modifications to the UI for something people MIGHT use.All this energy could be used to make say, a notification page :)

I don't really like it. I think a better design would be to mimic the people tile or the picture tile. In other words, allow the user to create groups/folders that light up as a live tile like the people hub. Clicking on the group would open up a sub-list or sub-tiles.Mango introduced grouping of people and mailboxes. To me allowing the grouping of applications is the next logical step.

I think a lot a people miss the point. This is the best idea I've seen so far. If you don't like it, don't use it ! The best thing is it allows you to regroup applications with same functionality or purpose, like puzzle games, or communication ... Aren't you tired of scrolling up and down ? Metro stand for clear icons, to me, this is preserved in this concept. Other things missing in WP: (just try the App "Phone 8")- Transparent icons (with background image)- Wide screen when rotate- Search ready right away (mango) in the app list. Why the need to click search. That list is way too big !Hope they add some functionality and that they won't be scared to try new stuff. In "Phone 8" could do it, I'm sure Microsoft can !

I checked out that app in the Marketplace (didn't download, just looked at the screenshots) and it definitly has the right idea. There are some pretty beautiful themes being used there. Just imagine if Microsoft implimented something like this and it was open to the public to create themes. Options would be limitless.

....I like the sizes of the tiles and I wouldn't want to have more tiles on the start screen. What I would like are "multipurpose" tiles which you can name as per your liking like "News", "Weather", "Navigation" etc and when you touch the tile, your corresponding apps are showing up. WP7 already offers something like this with the "Xbox" or "Office" tile...

Way too cluttered. And what happens if I'm short a quarter or half tile or two? Then I have tiny icons that don't even up with the original sized tiles. Doesn't it bother you guys when you're a single tile short these days? This would be a nightmare to me.

This design DOES go against Metro. Part of the design is quick and easy access to information. A 1/4 tile doesn't give you any information. It gives you an icon. You have a list of apps for that. Why do you want it on the start screen as well?The point of live tiles is to quickly be able to glance down at the phone and get updates. With no updates, it's not a tile, but just an icon. And then you have duplicated functionality from the jump screen.Does it hurt anyone to add it? Not directly, no. But it also doesn't add to the experience. It's just something to add for the sake of adding something. If you want that look, buy an iPhone and scroll through pages and pages of icons. MS is moving AWAY from icons even on the tablets. So I don't see why they would want to promote something that doesn't go with the new (and unique) idea of live tiles.

That would help with that element, but what benefit would it bring? It just seems to eliminate a key differentiation from iOS and Android. Perhaps a better approach would be to allow the jump screen to have different views, or add a 3rd screen with an icon view that can be scrolled?

Also, it should be your choice wether or not you want live information from that app. If you decide you want easy access to the app by having it on your homescreen, but you find that the live information it provides doesn't help you in anyway, you should be able to turn it off, or in this case, shrink it to reduce the amount of information recieved (half) or cause it to be static (quarter).

Different sizes and colors? Definitely. But notice how none of them are so small you can't read them, or any of them read like an icon. We already have different sized tiles now (single and double). Adding colors is the only thing missing. The 360 and PC have more visible area, so they can offer more tile sizes.

This concept illustrates why you should not use smaller tiles. At that size 1) they can only be static icons, there is no space to display relevant info and therefore saving you time, so you don't have to go into the app to check information, 2) Will make WP7 an index finger touch device because it'll be difficult to accurately hit those smaller icons with your thumb. Guys, measure it, the width of a tile is roughly the width of an average thumb. WP7 is made to be used with one hand. You see all the time users of iphones and androids holding the phone in one hand and using their index finger of the other to touch. That is because you need your index finger precision to navigate those UIs. But a mobile device is something you will use while walking and, yes, driving. Try to find the app you are looking for in an android device while walking, with one hand only, because you are carrying something with the other, or while driving. Where do you start in Android? In which screen you put it? Left center, left, right, top, bottom, top-left, top-right, bottom-left, bottom-right? Or maybe you didn't put it in any and it is still in the 'all apps' thingy. I guarantee you'll crash before finding the app. The grid of colorful icons over a colorful (and sometimes animated!) wallpaper is too busy and disorganized for the quick glances that you should be giving to your phone when you have to be paying attention to your surroundings. MetroUI allows you those quick glances, allows you to fat finger your thumb over the tile and hit it precisely. And if your app is not in the start screen, a swipe to right and a hit on the first letter (in Mango) gets you to the app in a second, because is not only the icon but also the name of the app in large text. So, get the custom of using your phone with one hand and you'll see how MetroUI and the tiles totally makes sense.

I really like the idea. Why is a full tile needed just to open IE. I have long wished the tiles were just a little smaller, enough to allow a third column of tiles. I never considered shrinking them to half or 1/4.I especially think its not a bad idea being that part f the allure of WP7, the live tiles, are largely unused. Microsoft doesn't even use it for many of their apps (why are MSFT's weather and stock apps not live tile enabled?!). So why use up all that real estate if they are just going to display the apps name?I do agree that allowing too many half and quarter tiles will allow the home screen to get cluttered and get confusing, but don't think that goes against the Metro design. User's choice. If a user doesn't want his screen cluttered then he does not have to fill his screen full of tiles.

I like the idea but I see problems. First, I have always liked the idea that there is extra space for a row or two of small text below the metro symbol providing more info directly from the app. I also like the idea of the tile flipping to give even more info. Reduce the side of the tile and you reduce or negate your ability to get that.Second, long holding on a tile currently allows you to move the tile, that would have to be changed. Third, there is no doubt in my mind that Microsoft has figured out the tile space limit issue a long time ago. I also think its a little two early in the game for changing the current tile arrangement, it just partially feels like a solution to a problem we don't have yet.But here is the thing, how many tiles do you really need on the home screen? I find that beyond 20 or so many are apps I don't need as often as I think, often enough to warrant being on the home screen. Two many apps on the home screen also goes against the idea and usefullness of glace and go. Remember folks, focus your home screen on things you really have to have instant access to/feedback from the app or apps. We also want apps to start talking/exchanging/querying other apps to provide essential info to a problem/solution/outcome on the tile even if it came from another app or two. I want my tile to get me the info I have requested and flip to alert me it has arrived, or display it if there is enough room. I think that's far more important than creating a solution to a problem we really don't have yet.

@Super2Online"But here is the thing, how many tiles do you really need on the home screen? I find that beyond 20 or so many are apps I don't need as often as I think, often enough to warrant being on the home screen. Two many apps on the home screen also goes against the idea and usefullness of glace and go."If MS allows 30 live tiles + extra regular tiles, their own design expects greater than 30 tiles. Either way, it's up to the user to decide...Think of all of the potential Live Tiles one app could make in Mango e.g. News Feeds.

I think its a great idea with some tweaking necessary. I don't think the tiles need to go down to 1/4 but 1/2 looks good and makes sense. Also I think the idea of making some tiles bigger would work too. You could select the app and increase to 2 times bigger. It would look like the pinned pictures hub. You could do the double sized to any pinned app on your home screen. Just an idea I would like.

As much as I like the tiles screen as it is actually, I am not fond of the app list in which you have to scroll infinitely to get to the required application. Even with Mango, search and alphabetic access is not enough (pretty useless actually.. they don't expect everyone to remember the names of 100 apps and search by name!!! I have a dev account and I used mango, and I am not really finding this feature useful)My suggestion would be to add a third screen on which you can see tiles of the most used applications, which automatically update based on applications that are not pinned to the home screen but that are used more than others. That would be cool and pretty useful! (A feature to manually pin/unpin certain apps into/from that secondary tiles screen would be welcome also). The secondary screen doesn't necessarily need to be animated like the main one.

I disagree, I think that a 3rd screen would be a waste if it was just another location for icons. If they were to add a 3rd screen (which on not necssarily against) then it would need to be unique and useful, not just another interpretation of the other two screens.Also, I've been using Mango for a while now and I find the aphabetic jump keys extremely useful. Infact 90% of the time that I have to pick an app from that list, I use the jump keys. You are right in saying that sometimes you don't remember the app name, but this only occurs say 10% of the time for me. You only have to remember what it starts with.

I like the idea, but I am not sure how finger-friendly the half and quarter-sized tiles would be.The beauty of Metro is that it's simple and quick. If you have to pause to hit the right tile, or even to think about hitting the right tile (a major flaw of iPhone, in my opinion), then something is not working as intended.I could be wrong, but his fingers looked larger than most of the tiles that were not full size. Cool idea; I am always for intelligently maximizing screen real estate.

Smaller tiles reduce the overall user experience. Think about how you currently use your Windows Phone, it's probably with one hand and your thumb is swiping, clicking and scrolling through the screens. WP7 in and out... Right? now and smaller tiles and you'll be hitting the wrong tile and/or having to use your index finger. The idea with the bigger tiles is you can pretty much flick and scroll and literally tap a tile without putting any thought into it for accuracy you have a larger area making the connect to the app you want faster. Microsoft thought about that and that's what makes the user experience so much better that Android or iPhone where you have to use you index finger and/or be a lot more accurate with hitting an icon

I used an iPhone for 3 years before my Windows Phone purchase, and I doubt I ever once opened the wrong app because it was too small. The app size likely won't be an issue in my opinion, but I'm of average thumb size and have a 4.3" screen.

yes that's true for you, but keep in mind like you said you have average thumbs. That's not the case for everyone. And in the case of the iphone the icons are spaced a little but more apart than in the demo shown in the video where the chances of hitting the wrong icon are a lot great for avg and even above average thumb size user. It's a good idea don't get me wrong but pretty much we're just falling back to the icon screen step but using flat icons. That's pretty much what this is moving towards.

"yes that's true for you, but keep in mind..." it would be optional. It would default to normal sized tiles. It would be an option for the user/developer to turn on. I have a feeling this would only work for some apps because the developer would have to include multiple tile sets. Similar to how some apps (WPCentral's own app is an example) have a live tile and non-live tile that you enable/disable in the app options. Those two different tiles are provided by the app developer, not Microsoft's WP7 UI designers.

@devGODSimple solution to the "accidently hit the wrong program" issue (which hasn't yet been demonstrated): automatically enlarge the hit-area.The WP keyboard already does this using text prediction: it guesses your next word and based on that makes the most likely next letter have a large hit-area and a least likely letter a smaller hit-area. This is why typing is so good on WP. You could have the hit-area for tiles (a) graphically expand to make it large and/or (b) just have the hit-area larger than the actual tile.What I'm tying to say is what you raises is far from an insurmountable problem from an engineering perspective.

It looks too cluttered for my tastes. I think it's the black separation space that bothers me. tropolite's idea is more what I've thought of (my thought came from looking at the People tile). With that method, there wouldn't be any separation space.Anyway, with a 30 live tile limit + x "undead?" tiles, maybe they could have a page slider at the bottom right, where a page is 8 tiles. It could have an up arrow that snaps to the closest previous page, a circle with the current page number where you can slide up or down and it'll display the page number on the screen somewhere where you'll be when you lift up your finger, and, of course, a down arrow to snap to the next closest page.

Smaller tiles, while fine for some things, wouldn't work for many of the newer apps since you're limiting the area the tile can display info in. If all you want is the basic tile like messaging that shows one number next to it, then it can work, but for other things? nah.

This might be a step in the right direction. As it is now, I feel that too much scrolling is necessary if you have more than 25 or so tiles. This might go against the metro UI, but imagine "folders" that, when selected, could expand to fill the screen with tiles (either live or not). When you're done, you can back out to compress them all back into a single tile again. Like this you can organize contacts, webpages, different categories of apps like games, entertainment, music, etc. into single tiles to be accessed and viewed only when needed. Secondly, they should allow third party apps to have larger tiles, or even expandable tiles (imagine a weather tile that could expand to the size of 4 tiles to show the weather forecast). Just an idea...

I had a similar concept in my skull, but keep the tiles the same size yet have active corners if you wish, or for specific uses.e.g. if you have a specific person you contact regularly one corner of the tile could be to txt, one corner to call one corner to bring up details, and one corner to email.I like the concept of the smaller tiles too.. seriously how big do you need the IE tile, or Map tile if they aren't going to be live.Put this idea in the 'Tango' upgrade.Thanks :)

Also, on the Zune...the scrolling isn't necessarily more sensitive from a technical perspective, but the sensitivity is turned up, and you can more easily bounce form top to bottom of your shortcut list. I miss that when I'm scrolling around my tiles.

It's not removing the ability the make full sized tiles. Besides, this would be nice for trivial short cuts. Like website short cuts. Basically it's good for tiles that dont' really beam any information in at all. I would wonder though how this would be implemented. Would it ask you every time you pinned something size of a tile you want. It would be kind of one annoying step that might be a little more complicated than it should be. But! After it's pinned, when you do the tile editing, when they shrink down and you select one, there could be little options on the side to resize it. I donno, maybe it's no big deal, but when I see things like that, I do think you need to consider the point A to point B in all of this. It's no big deal to us since we're all nerds, but they may not want to clutter everything up. Also, I'd actually like to see the tiles a little bigger. There's that wasted space on the right with the arrow taking up that whole area with black space. People only need to learn once that you can swipe to the right for more apps. But I'd like to see them pull in a little Meego from the N9. It has three planes. Windows Phone could use a unified notification center on the far left where all of your notifications could be stored. Because right now.....if you don't have a tile pinned, your notifications aren't actually visible...which theoretically, isn't a problem, because your tiles are most likely what you want to know the most...but still. It would be a a nice implementation that has proven usability in Meego on the N9.

"Also, I'd actually like to see the tiles a little bigger. There's that wasted space on the right with the arrow taking up that whole area with black space."Do a Google image search for a Windows Phone thats been poorly photoshoped and has the tiles taking up the whole screen. It looks aweful. The blank space is part of the design, its not there just to accommodate an arrow.

I thought it had quarter tiles, its called the app list. But seriously, it is a really bad idea. A quarter-sized tile is too small to provide much useful info, and makes you scroll more. It will end up looking like Android or iOS. Just because you make the tiles smaller doesn't mean that the OS overhead to handle background task and notifications is smaller. There is a reason for those limits.The Mango release gives you a fast way to jump to apps (when you have 45 or more), and a great app search feature. This quarter tile thing is really a bad idea.

Quarter tiles aren't intended to be live. From the looks of it, full and double tiles are the same, providing constantly updated live information, while half tiles can provide numerical live updates (ie: how many messages/emails/calls you have) and quarter tiles are static icons. It makes sence, as some icons have no use for live tiles and the gigantic icon is just a waste of space, Internet Explorer being the perfect example. They made it a static quarter icon, then surrounded it with pinned favorite sites, which are also static, making much better use of the space. I personally like the idea, and it is something that is voluntary and does not need to be used if it were implimented.

@logicdev: "The Mango release gives you a fast way to jump to apps (when you have 45 or more), and a great app search feature."You and DRG are confusing or at least conflating the Start screen with the jump screen. The issue here is with the former: with the ability to add 30 Live Tiles plus "X" amount of regular tiles, you'll soon have a long, long Start screen. The jump list does nothing to help this as it is not a way to organize your programs.The question is: how can you make the Start screen a little more accommodating to those 30 Live Tiles + regular tiles?Also, the 1/4 Tile is optional, according to this model. You could have regular tiles, 1/2 *or* 1/4--it's up to the user.

i don't agree. i think it looks tacky and goes against Metro UI. I currently have 22 tiles pinned. Apps I use daily go on the home screen and accessing all other apps I access via the app list which is easy enough for me. No need to ruin the home screen page. Plus with Mango they'll have the search function on the app list page which will help when that list gets really big. An idea I have thought that could improve that problem with the app list getting to big is having a max of say 50 apps/page and when the max is reached you have to slide horizontally to go to the next page and see the remaining apps.

Tiles are big, and we associate icons with being smaller. so in a since it does go against what the Metro UI tiles are. The idea of Metro tiles is to be able to help with you getting in and out fairly quickly. Holding your phone in one hand and being able to quick hit a tile with your thumb and not worrying about accurately hitting it dead on or hitting the tile next to it. The beauty of Metro UI you don't have to use you index finger or another hand to accurately navigate throughout the phone. Also keep in mind not everyone has tiny fingers which makes the iPhone unappealing to a lot of people. I understand with the concept designer of these mini tiles (icons) is getting at. BUT you have to look at things from a broader stance when you're a UI developer for apps. What may seem perfect for you is not the case for everyone. I think a lot of developers forget about that you have to design for your audience and in most cases everyone and not just what works for you. Ever go to a website and think, WTF was the designer thinking and you're just overwhelmed and navigating the site. That's a designer designing what they like and not what there audience would.

Yet like Daniel said, if the smaller tiles are optional, it hurts nobody. People could assign tasks that they don't need to spot as quickly/hit as easily to smaller tiles, or just ignore them completely.

I understand by it being optional but from a marketing and design stand point you don't want to give the user/cell company that option of changing the user experience. Microsoft wants and has branded the big tile easy quick experience.

@devGOD, the principle of Metro are the following, of which I don't see any going against having smaller design tiles, so long as they are functional (something we are assuming here):Typography. Type is beautiful. Not only is it attractive to the eye, but it can also be functional. The right balance of weight and positioning can create a visual hierarchy. Additionally, well placed type can help lead you to more content.Motion is what brings the interface to life. Transitions are just as important as graphical design. By developing a consistent set of motions or animations, a system is created that provides context for usability, extra dimension and depth and improves the perceived performance of the whole interface.Content not Chrome is one of the more unique principles of Metro. By removing all notions of extra chrome in the UI, the content becomes the main focus. This is especially relevant due to the smaller screen size and gesture-based interactions.Honesty. Design explicitly for the form factor of a hand held device using touch, a high resolution screen and simplified and expedited forms of interaction. In other words, be “authentically digital”.

One of the common complaints, however unfounded, is that the UI is not customizable enough from the stand point of the Start screen. The Metro UI is alive and well in this very slight tweak. This is not going to change the user experience, I personally think that being able to cut down some of the base tiles; Messages, phone, email, would be good. Cutting those tiles in half horizontally is still going to be able to show what it needs, fulfilling the glance and go, and still big enough to tap easily. I can easily distinguish between touching the top or bottom of the tile.

Metro is about *large* readable text - what is proposed here is essentially icons.And the harm is that people coming from other platforms will ignore the best about WP and start using it just as any icon-ridden phone like iPhone or Android or Blackberry or Bada or Windows Mobile etc.

Perhaps we'd get more users from other phones because they like icon approach better than tiles. Perhaps the tiles are preventing people from really considering WP7 over Android and iOS because it's so different. The more converts we get from Android and iOS the better. More users, more big name apps and games.Also, it would be optional. You like tiles, someone else doesn't. Maybe you like red tiles while I like blue tiles. We have that option.Metro is a design theme and UI philosophy. Having 1/2 tiles, 1/4 tiles, or even x2 tiles (like the pictures tile) all still fit the UI. Uniformity.I'd like to see options for x2 tiles. The Accuweather.com live tile could benefit from a x2 user option. More info on the live tile at one time. I'd gladly sacrifice a tile to have more info at a glance. Instead of just the current temp and location it could show the hi/low for the current day, the real feel temp, and a larger current conditions graphic.On the other had, the IE tile doesn't need to be as large as it is. It's not a live tile, and it's just an icon set against the color of your choice with "Internet Explorer" below the icon. Like the picture in the article shows, it is just the same (minus the unnecessary text), only smaller with the 1/4 tile.

I guess you are right - it just seems to be a bit redundant, as you already have apps list for icons. Myself, I only put tiles that change content on the home screen and launch everything else from the app list.